Redemption is a Dish Best Served Warm
by dydshark
Summary: Every action has its unintended consequences. Uchiha Itachi survives his final battle with his brother, but at a high cost. Blind and broken, he resigns himself to live with the guilt and darkness. But his gloom-and-doom plans are thwarted by an unlikely friendship with a certain pink-haired medic. Together, they learn to heal and hope for a better world.
1. Chapter 1

Leap of Faith

dydshark

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Chapter 1:

He woke to darkness—darkness and pain. It burned his lungs with every gasping breath he sucked in. It cut through his stomach, his arms, his head. Everything was on fire. He heaved, tried to sit up.

"He's awake! Shit shit shit, he's awake!" a voice cried somewhere above him. Something pressed down on his shoulders. Everything was dark. And something unknown and unidentifiable was holding him down. Blind panic hit him. He thrashed weakly, frail wrists straining against his shackles. The pressure on his chest increased painfully.

Memory began to filter in sluggishly. A blurred image of a boy, eyes wide with shock and horror, his messy black hair dripping with blood floated up from the fog.

 _Sasuke_ … he thought hazily. There were so many feelings associated with the one word, but his mind refused to parse them into coherent thoughts. His next thoughts jolted him into action.

 _I should be dead._

"Sasuke," he rasped, voice burning his esophagus, killing his lungs. "Sasuke."

Someone else—further away, but with a voice loud enough to carry—growled with outrage. "You bastard! Don't you dare say his name! You have no right!"

"Naruto! Calm down! He's our best shot at finding—"

Another voice—deeper, calmer—spoke, "Uchiha Itachi, you are under arrest for the massacre of the Uchiha Clan, and the attempted kidnapping of––"

Following the sound of that voice, he shot out a bony hand, closing on an arm, clutching at it.

"Sasuke," he repeated, breath rattling harshly. "Do you have Sasuke?"

Silence.

The first voice finally answered him. "No, Sasuke-kun was gone by the time we entered the clearing."

The second voice cut in. "That doesn't matter right now. We need to heal his wounds well enough to transport him back to Konoha to be interrogated by Morino-san––"

Another wave of panic slammed through his system. He fought harder to be free because _if Sasuke wasn't with them then_ —

He tightened his grip in the arm he was still clutching. "Don't take me back to Konoha––" He felt himself slipping away and fought to stay present––"They can't know––I'm alive–Not safe–for Sasuke–Danzo–Madara–can't know I'm alive."

"Shit! He's losing blood! I need to stabilize him now!"

As he felt consciousness fade, Itachi forced out, "Jiraiya–Tell Jiraiya… I failed."

* * *

In honor of the 100th review of !FanboyItachi by TDI-Ryro-Eclares. The prompt was, "in which both Itachi and Sasuke unintentionally fall for Sakura. The twist could be that it is not non-mass. So both are missing nin." Apologies for taking so long! I think the review was written back in 2015? ^^" Also, as you might have guessed, this is going to be a chapter-fic.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Consciousness returned in pieces. Thoughts—more image than word, and more feeling than image—hazily wound their way through his mind. He struggled to grasp hold of them. Slowly, awareness of the outside world began to filter through as well, like sunlight through blinders. His nose twitched as a sharp, synthetic smell hit his nostrils.

 _Clean_ , his mind supplied helpfully. _No, not quite—sterilized_. Another word surfaced as he made this newest connection. _Hospital._

At this revelation, his fingers twitched, fingerpads scraping against the rough bed sheets, but when he lifted his arms, he met resistance around his wrists. Surprised, he inhaled sharply—another lungful of that awful, awful smell—and a steady beeping noise that had been lost in the background increased in frequency.

Beep. Beep.

Beep beep beep.

Beepbeepbeep.

He tried to open his eyes, but they must have placed a seal on them, for the room remained pitch black. He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised; Konoha was a capable shinobi village. Distantly, he heard papers shuffle, the rustle of clothes as someone stood, and then the faint _click-clack_ of heels on polished floor. His head followed the echoes blindly as the woman—he guessed—passed his bed to the other side of the room. The slight _shhhick_ of a button being pressed, static, and then a woman's low voice murmuring, "Hokage-sama, he's awake."

Subtly, he tested his restraints. In addition to the wrist binds it seemed, they had placed binds on his biceps, chest, abdomen, thighs, and ankles. _They were taking every precaution,_ he thought humorlessly.

Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to break free in spite of these measures, but the morphine that had kept him under was still coursing through his veins, rendering his mind sluggish and his muscles rubbery.

Muffled footsteps, approaching fast, diverted his attention, and he tilted his head in anticipation. The door _whooshed_ open, and a lesser man would have shrunk from the entity that stormed into the room. Even without his sight, he could feel the power radiating from the woman who'd just entered the room. It hit you with each ringing clap of her shoes against the floor. It demanded your attention and respect in the silence that followed in her wake, as if her presence even cowed machines into submission.

No, he didn't need to see to know the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure had trained her hazel eyes on him.

A low humming filled the room, and the bed jolted before tilting to re-position him into a sitting position. He winced as the bed pressed against his back. There was a deep ache that resonated even through the fog of pain medications.

"Uchiha," a deep, female voice said.

He turned his head in her general direction. His face was smooth and expressionless as he said, "Hokage-sama. I would bow, but I seem to be tied up at the moment."

"Cut the bullshit," the Hokage said. "Haruno, administer the serum."

More footsteps until they stopped beside his bed. All he could hear was the rustle of plastic—it irked him how helpless he felt without his sight. He could only guess that "Haruno" was in the process of injecting this "serum" the Hokage had mentioned before.

He certainly felt it when it hit his system. Euphoria burst in his already-drug addled mind, and against his will, he felt his muscles relax and settle into the bed.

"Let's start with some easy questions. What is your name?"

He knew that he needed to stay quiet. He couldn't tell the truth. He couldn't reveal anything. _But why not?_ a voice asked. _What's the harm in answering this one question? They already know the answer to it. So what information are you truly giving up?_

"I believe… you already… know the answer… to that question, Hokage-sama," he finally said. Resisting, even dodging the question, was difficult, near impossible even. The longer he stayed quiet, the more he felt compelled to speak.

"No. No, I don't believe I do," she replied. His brow furrowed at her calm tone. "Tell me something only Uchiha Itachi would know."

The Uchiha stiffened. Unbidden, his mouth began to move. "I hate the rain. It makes irritates my lungs, makes it hard to breathe. In high humidity, I cough more and slow our pace, but Kisame never complains––" He gritted his teeth, hands clenching into fists as he fought the drug.

The other woman hissed, "You didn't answer the question. Shishou said––"

"Enough, it's him."

"But Shishou, he didn't answer the—"

"He gave enough. Read underneath the underneath. What imposter would answer so honestly—especially as Uchiha Itachi?"

The Hokage's voice cut through the room again. "In your final words, you told Team 7 to deliver a message to Jiraiya-sannin." The Hokage's voice was tenser now. She spoke more urgently. "What was it?"

Again, he could feel the drug pushing him to answer truthfully. "I told them to tell him I failed."

"And what did you mean by that?"

"I failed to give Sasuke the vengeance he sought. I failed to protect him from Uchiha Madara and his corrupting influence." His chest tightened in pain and sorrow as he spoke. He hung his head in shame, uncaring that the Hokage was there to witness his moment of grief.

The Hokage drew in a sharp breath. "Uchiha Madara? That's impossible. He's been dead for years."

He shook his head. "No, he is alive. He has been manipulating the Akatsuki from the shadows for years now, hiding behind a ridiculous persona—Tobi."

Another intake of breath—this time from the other presence in the room. "Tobi? Shishou—we saw him that day. As we were entering the clearing—he-he took Sasuke-kun," she said frantically. Her next question was directed to him. "What does he plan on doing with Sasuke-kun?"

"While I was in the Akatsuki, Madara-sama was never certain of my loyalty, and so always made sure to keep his plans secret. Now that I am no longer a threat, I am sure he will begin to move faster and reveal his hand to the rest of the group."

 _"But what does he plan to do with Sasuke-kun?_ " she asked.

If possible, his head dipped even lower. "I assume that Madara-sama will reveal the truth about the Uchiha Massacre to Sasuke, feeding into his confusion and anger. He will redirect Sasuke's hate towards Konoha and work with him to destroy Konoha and everything it stands for," he whispered.

Both women seemed to have been stunned into silence. The girl barely choked out an excuse before she rushed out of the room. Heavy silence blanketed the room following her exit. Finally, the Hokage sighed deeply.

"This is more serious than we thought," she muttered to herself. "Tell me everything, starting from the massacre."

He paused. He had sacrificed so much to ensure that Konoha would never besmirch the Uchiha's reputation. How could he give it all away now?

The Hokage clicked her tongue impatiently. "There's no use fighting it, Uchiha. What happened at the massacre? Why did you do it?"

The need to obey nearly broke him, but he fought it with every ounce of his being. He could not give up the secret. "It… was… an order…" he said, the words finding their way forcibly through his mouth.

"Made by who?"

"… Danzo-sama…"

The Hokage swore under her breath. She began to pace frantically. "Why? Why did he order you? Why did you agree?"

To his dismay, it was becoming more difficult to fight the drug the more he talked. The words practically flowed from his mouth freely: "The Uchiha were planning a coup. I did not agree with them because… because I did not want to see more death. When my father would not agree to a compromise, the coup seemed inevitable… Killing them was the only way to preserve their honor… and Danzo-sama promised… if I killed them, he would spare my otouto."

The Hokage's pacing paused abruptly when he mentioned preserving the Uchiha's honor. "You fool," she said, voice barely above a whisper. His brow furrowed in surprise. He'd never been called a fool before. "You naïve fool."

The Uchiha was not one to be offended easily, but something in the Hokage's tone seemed to suggest that he had made an erroneous decision. "I fail to see how I acted foolishly," he said stiffly. "There were no other options—"

"You should have allowed the Hokage to arrest the main conspirators and stand trial," she said.

"But that would have ruined the Uchiha reputation—"

"Perhaps immediately following the arrests, but eventually the Uchiha could have returned to Konoha's good graces."

"No, that would not have been possible. The damage would have been too great."

"Do you have so little faith in Konoha?" she asked. The man stiffened. His nostrils flared ever so slightly. "Even the deepest held prejudice can be overcome with persistence and time." She sounded almost sad. "Your actions had greater consequences than you anticipated. The Uchiha massacre fractured the Hokage's power while further legitimizing Danzo's. Clan politics have become even more divisive, more insular. We are not prepared to stand as a united front against the Akatsuki."

The Uchiha felt a great weight settle in the pit of his stomach. Could this be true? This burden he'd carried for most of his life—the death of his family, the torture of his brother—he thought he had accepted their consequences, had carefully laid out plans to pay for his atrocities. All to save Konoha and Sasuke.

But he had failed both. Sasuke was with Madara, and if the Hokage spoke the truth, then Konoha had suffered greater consequences than he had calculated. The thought that there were additional, unintended consequences was almost unbearable. He struggled to accept it, adjust to it. Pain, a hundred—no, a thousand times—more acute than the ache in his lungs sliced through him. He couldn't breathe. In the distant background, he felt the heart monitor's beeping increase in frequency.

"What happens now?" he asked finally, more out of a desire to get away from the suffocating guilt threatening to consume him.

"Nobody knows you're still alive. Thankfully, Kakashi had the intuition to trust you and sent word you had died from your injuries. I want a full report on the Akatsuki. After this, I will have Shizune or Sakura to collect your statement. And then, we prepare for war."

"Hokage-sama, let me do more," the Uchiha said. His voice carried a note of desperation that had his muscles tensing as he tried to hide his vulnerability. "Send me out into the field. Let me find my brother. If I can talk to you—"

"You're going nowhere, Uchiha," she said. "You sustained severe injuries from your last fight, not to mention a lung disease that would have killed you were it not for my apprentice."

His brows furrowed. What did she mean? A dull ache still reverberated through his lungs, but now that he considered it, felt it, he realized that the pain was different. He took an experimental breath, felt his chest expand with air and—there. Before, inhaling had felt like sandpaper scraping along the linings of his lungs. Now, the throbbing came from his lungs, from the act of expanding and compressing, as if they were unused to doing so.

His muscles coiled automatically. "What did she do?" he asked.

"Your lungs had almost completely deteriorated by the time they found you. Sakura had to put you in an induced coma in order to transport you to the nearest hospital. Thankfully, a young man matching your blood type died around the same time you were brought in. By that time, Shizune had joined her and they successfully performed a lung transplant on you."

He felt sick. Suddenly, he was acutely aware of how foreign his chest felt. He sucked in another breath, filling his new lungs with repulsion.

"You have a long road to recovery ahead of you, Uchiha," the Hokage continued, unaware or uncaring of his internal turmoil. "You won't be a useful asset in the field for many months, and that's not even considering your trial and sentencing."

"I will serve my time as you see fit," he said stiffly. "But let me help find Sasuke. I am a better asset in the field than in a hospital bed. I still have some back up measures in place. If I can use my Mangekyou on him—"

"That's no longer possible," the Hokage said quietly. Her tone was almost sad. "When our retrieval team found you, your eyes were damaged beyond repair. You are blind."


End file.
